Davina and the Vagabonds have created a stir on the national blues scene with their high-energy live shows and commanding stage presence. With influences ranging from Fats Domino and the Preservation Hall Jazz Band to Aretha Franklin and Tom Waits, the band is converting audiences one show at a time.
Opening act Windy City Soul Club boasts the "best rare soul collectors/deejays in Chicago come together to create the best party this city has ever seen," and if you're inclined to think real deejays need only a box full of vinyl, you'll likely agree. From Popcorn & R&B to Modern Soul WCSC deejays have it covered.
FREE
This collective has the chops & knowledge to get you singing along to the songs from this
amazing songwriting duo before the film.
Playing With:
Music Video by Handsome Family - Octopus
Katie Kapuza / 4 min
Through hand-drawn animation and rotoscoping, the Handsome Family teaches us about that most misunderstood of sea creatures—the giant octopus.
A wordless portrait of Amelie, a contemporary dancer preparing for her first professional dance show while dealing with the everyday struggles of living with cystic fibrosis and diabetes.
Co-Presented with Boxx Magazine and Women in Film
Four films about music and memories passing from parent to child.
USA Premiere
Koentopp
Short Documentary / Paul Hamilton, Caleb Vinson / USA / 45 min.
Koentopp follows master luthier Dan Koentopp through the construction of one of his gorgeous guitars, and the emotional life story that has made him what he is today.Q&A with directors.
Chicago Premiere
Battle of the Jazz Guitarist
Short Documentary / Mark Columbus / USA / 8 min.
A young filmmaker begins to understand what his father, "the Jimi Hendrix of the Fiji Islands,” gave up for his family.
Chicago Premiere
The Final Note
Short Documentary / Mayeta Clark / USA / 16 min.
This portrait of a Bronx warehouse cluttered with pianos and the eccentric characters who restore them presents the decline of a once-majestic instrument and the high craft of piano restoration.
Chicago Premiere
Grand Canal
Short Fiction / Johnny Ma / USA, Canada / 19 min.
A boat captain who loves Chinese ballads tries to collect a debt to save his fleet of boats, as remembered by his ten-year-old son.
An entertaining and enlightening selection of films from our favorite Canadian city, Winnipeg, and its amazing home-grown film co-op. (Although two of the films are actually from Montreal.)
Chicago Premiere
Bome Gnomeski
Music Video / Curtis L. Wiebe, Marlon Wiebe / Canada / 3 min.
A cautionary tale about a little tree who gets more than he bargained for when he leaves the forest for the mean streets of the big city.
USA Premiere
Mahsa: Cantata for a Forbidden Voice in Four Movements
Short Documentary / Kiarash Anvari / Canada, Iran / 16 min.
In a country where public performances by women are forbidden, the internationally acclaimed Iranian vocalist Mahsa Vahdat struggles to make her voice heard.
World Premiere
Polar Express
Music Video / Karen Asmundson, Gwen Trutnau / Canada / 5 min.
The carnival is back in town in this rockin', gender-bending music video about a young man's love affair with an amusement park ride.
Chicago Premiere
Seasick
Short Fiction / Eva Cvijanovic / Canada / 3 min.
Seasick is a animated, meditative exploration of one's love of the sea, set to a soundtrack of traditional Croatian music.
Empty
Short Documentary / Jackie Traverse / Canada / 5 min.
Set to music by Little Hawk, this animated and starkly honest story is a daughter’s tribute to her estranged mother.
Bazen en Helden - "Le Dernier Soir"
Music Video / Kayla Jeanson / Canada / 6 min.
A woman in a mask leads a group of children through an evening of fun and fantasy, crafting masks and projecting animated unicorns onto houses.
Goths! On the Bus!
Music Video / Karen & Jaimz Asmundson / Canada / 4 min.
The winner of our 2012 Best Music Video is back, as depressed as ever. Even goths have to buy their black lipstick somewhere!
North American Premiere
Short Documentary - Box of Sound
Chuck Przybyl / USA / 12 min.
Chicago-based circuit bender and musician Antoine Kattar turns a cigar box into a synthesizer in this film that lovingly documents every step of the process, from concept to music.
Music Video by Soul Square - One Time
Julien Martorell, Quentin Garabedian / France / 3 min
Walter is a dedicated music collector who stays committed to his passion throughout his life, until he receives his reward.
As a creative person, having to market yourself and make industry connections can feel like a lot of bullshit. How do you network with the right people and promote yourself authentically? This panel cuts through the bullshit by discussing the ways actors, filmmakers, and other creative types can get better at representing themselves and their work—all while making genuine connections. Hear the lessons learned and how you can avoid your own pitfalls.
A smorgasbord of offerings illustrating the diversity of nations, subjects, and styles we highlight at CIMMfest.
Chicago Premiere
Shooter Jennings' The Other Life
Short Fiction / Blake Judd / USA / 28 min.
Shooter Jennings says goodbye to his family and hits the road on a supernatural journey inspired by Stephen King, Stanley Kubrick, and his own past.
KnickaNack Dan
Music Video / Pedro Castro / USA / 4 min.
KnickaNack Dan was raised in the Tennessee trees by a man, a bear, and a pile of leaves. His tale just might astound you.
Kid Exodus - "Are We Apart"
Music Video / Viktor Enoksen / Norway / 4 min.
Kid Exodus escapes from a secret lab, and the authorities will do anything to get him back. When they finally corner him, things get messy.
Chicago Premiere
We Keep on Dancing
Short Fiction / Jessica Barclay Lawton / Australia / 9 min.
Two strangers meet through a haze of smoke from a broken-down Volkswagen Beetle in this sweet tale of love, loss and ... car trouble.
Chicago Premiere
My Black Box (Ma boîte noire)
Short Documentary / Nicolas-Alexandre Tremblay / Canada / 12 min.
At the age of four, rapper Dramatik was treated for aggression. The treatment left him with a stutter; freestyling provided him with a cure.
These New Puritans - V (Island Song)
Music Video / PICNIC / UK / 8 min.
A woman goes to the movies to lose herself and her mind in this animated video that These New Puritans describe as "the closest so far to band's vision."
Chicago Premiere
The Rhythm in Her Veins (El ritmo en sus venas)
Short Fiction / Juan Alberto Poveda Paredes / Spain / 13 min.
Irene and Rafa have a boring relationship full of lies, but an unexpected accident forces them to live together as they never have before.
The live streaming panel is a new, cutting-edge forum for pioneers, practitioners and decision makers in the live streaming space. Our inaugural panel will focus on the streaming media game-changers discussing:
History and evolution of live streaming
Live event production
Live streaming technologies
This panel explores the influence of 21st Century film criticism, plus the challenges critics face--including the abundance of indie films, the diversity of online opinions, and ever-changing media platforms.
This panel is sponsored by the Chicago Acting in Film Meetup NFP (CAFM). Founded in 2007, with the goal of helping its members become smarter Chicago actors, CAFM has become the premier co-mentoring and educational group for working film actors in Chicago. www.chicagoactinginfilm.org.
A Retrospective on Frankie Knuckles Impact on Dance Music. Charles Matlock of the Modern Dance Research & Archiving Foundation moderates this discussion centered around Frankie Knuckles' Warehouse/Powerplant years and his early experimentation in fusing various genres of dance music, ultimately leading to the introduction of House Music to the world. propelling him into the international spotlight,as a dj/artist/songwriter/producer.
A selection of films about the people who inspire us to create.
World Premiere
Stupify
Short Fiction / Paul Thomas / USA / 7 min.
When rapper Stupify steps into the studio to record his new album, his biggest challenge is unexpected—a very precise producer.
Loudboy - "Blue"
Music Video / Chiara Natalini / Italy / 4 min.
A young woman’s walk through the forest takes a turn for the weird in this video for NYC-based John “Loudboy” Andrews, longtime guitarist for Peter Murphy.
Chicago Premiere
Mr. Bellpond
Short Fiction / A. Todd Smith / USA / 20 min.
Consumed with guilt after his wife disappears, Mr. Bellpond goes into seclusion. Years later, an extortionist offers information of her whereabouts if Mr. Bellpond composes a new masterpiece.
Chicago Premiere
The Woman (La Donna)
Short Fiction / Nicolás Dolensky / Argentina / 15 min.
On a night that could be any night, anywhere, two men and a woman, plenty of alcohol, hot music, and sexual tension combine in unexpected ways.
World Premiere
A Hell of a Player! (Toca pra Diabo!)
Short Fiction/ Joao Helho / Brazil / 15 min.
After meeting a mysterious and talented stranger, guitar player Sig discovers that there are more things between hell and earth than a naive metalhead kid might suppose.
Valentimes - "Get Into My Convertible"
Music Video / Valentin Lozita / Argentina, Mexico / 7 min.
Valentin luxuriates in his new life as a rock legend, but things don’t always work out the way they do in music videos.
Chicago Premiere
The Voice Thief
Short Fiction / Adan Jodorowsky / France, USA / 22 min.
When an opera singer (Asia Argento) loses her voice, her husband embarks on an odyssey through Miami's dark underworld to recover it through supernatural means.
Muddy Waters changed the course of music. Raised in Clarksdale, Mississippi, he led the wave of electric blues from the moment he arrived in Chicago. He dominated the club scene, and then with Chess Records, defined what a blues record should be.
Our panelists know Muddy inside and out: Robert Gordon, author of Can’t be Satisfied: The Life and Times of Muddy Waters, the quintessential biography of Muddy Waters; Terry Abramson, author of In the Belly of the Blues, was a friend and Grammy winning songwriter for Muddy Waters; Gary Vincent is a musician and filmmaker working at Ground Zero Blues Club Music, in Clarksdale Mississippi.
The panel is joined by Muddy’s son Larry “Mud” Waters and moderated by Michael Frank CEO of Chicago Blues label Earwig Music CompanyWith the New York Dolls, his band the Heartbreakers, and solo, Johnny Thunders helped define punk rock with his raw, untamed guitar playing—and his raw, untamed lifestyle, until his mysterious death in a New Orleans hotel room at the age of 38. Packed with never-before-seen archival footage and interviews with the people who survived the New York punk scene, Looking for Johnny is not only the definitive movie about this rock ‘n’ roll junkie, but about the era that created him.
Q & A with Danny Garcia
Presented by MusicFilmWeb.com
Gospel music royalty, Chicago’s Barrett Sisters rose from 1920s poverty to world-renowned stardom, bringing their strong voices and sweet harmonies to nearly every continent on the planet. Sweet Sisters of Zion visits them, now in their 80s, as they reminisce on their amazing careers.
Q&A with Director Regina Rene Davis.
Followed by a short performance by Billie Barrett GreenBey, Rodessa Barrett Porter, and Tina Brown.
This panel led by Eva Saha (190 North) looks at how women take control of their creative futures by making successful indie film projects across all platforms. Featuring Wendy Jo Carlton (Writer/Director/Producer, Easy Abby), Lisa Cordileone (Actor/Producer, Easy Abby), Corrina Crade (CRADEmade Entertainment), Katia Gomez (Cherry Hill Films), and Fawzia Mirza (Kam Kardashian).
This panel is sponsored by the Chicago Acting in Film Meetup NFP (CAFM). Founded in 2007, with the goal of helping its members become smarter Chicago actors, CAFM has become the premier co-mentoring and educational group for working film actors in Chicago. www.chicagoactinginfilm.org.
Egg cartons & rugs on the walls, speakers from you dad’s 1959 Chevy and mics from ‘Paper Cups R’Us’ not cutting it? Your family & neighbors hate you while your recordings sound like cardboard? You found out the hard way or perhaps you’re about to? Don’t let this happen to you. Fix it or get it right the first time.
Music industry experts are stepping in and EARS, an organization dedicated to the advancement of excellence in audio production, consisting of recording studio professionals have put together a panel to discuss the ins and outs of how to do design, build and do you, your clients and your studio right.
Get the information you need to know on designing, soundproofing, building, equipping and anything we can squeeze into two hours those that love it, live it and breath it.
Join us for a great presentation, panel and discussion on designing and building your recording studio dream… do it right!
A selection of films about specific locations, even when that location is unclear.
World Premiere
Will Play for Beer
Short Documentary / Carrine Fisher / USA / 42 min.
Will Play for Beer documents the thriving independent music scene in Seattle, focusing on the cooperation between artists and their efforts to succeed in an ever-changing music industry.
Chicago Premiere
A Stroll Through the Park: An Asbury Symphony
Short Documentary / Sage Seb / USA / 19 min.
Cameras follow street artist Shepard Fairey through Asbury Park, NJ as he creates art for the All Tomorrow's Party music festival.
Steve Grand - "Back to California"
Music Video / Jason Knade / USA / 6 min.
The latest video from Steve Grand, Chicago’s gay country music sensation, explores the disillusionment of young adulthood and the intensity of adolescent friendship.
Lebanon Hanover - "Hall of Ice"
Diego Barrera / Chile, Colombia / 7 min.
Inexplicable rituals and ice-cold production highlight this video for British-German duo Lebanon Hanover.
Chicago premiere
Derby & Groma
Short Documentary / Kara Blake / Canada, Argentina / 17 min.
Kara Blake pieces together the story of a vaudeville couple in Jazz Age Buenos Aires using photographs found in the street, archival footage, performance, interviews, and animation.
Chicago Premiere
Lomax
Short Fiction / Jesse Kreitzer / USA / 12 min.
Folklorist Alan Lomax travels the Mississippi Delta equipped with 500 pounds of recording equipment powered by his car battery, on a quest to document the most beautiful and harrowing songs ever sung.
The intersection of film and music is often a creative one. This panel presents filmmakers and musicians who collaborate on film songs and scores, with tips and insights about their processes.
This panel is sponsored by the Chicago Acting in Film Meetup NFP (CAFM). Founded in 2007, with the goal of helping its members become smarter Chicago actors, CAFM has become the premier co-mentoring and educational group for working film actors in Chicago. www.chicagoactinginfilm.org.Music Video by Ema Shah - Masheenee Alcketiara (مشيني عالختيارة )
Ema Shah / Kuwait, USA / 4 min
A young Kuwaiti woman ditches her veil and imagines a life where she can sing, dance, drive a car, and fly a plane, until the cops show up.
Booker T. Jones laid the foundation for soul music. Classic Stax hits like “Green Onions,” “Hang ’Em High,” “Time Is Tight” and “Melting Pot” pushed the music’s boundaries, refined it to its essence and then injected it into the nation’s bloodstream. Not to mention backing Otis Redding, Wilson Pickett, Sam and Dave and everyone else.
Robert Gordon description: Grammy-winning writer Robert Gordon is the author of six books, producer/director of seven feature documentaries and a regular on NPR. He has focused on the American South—its music, art, and politics—to create an insider’s portrait of his home.
Seriously, this is just too cool!Short Documentary - Who Shot Rock & Roll: The Film
Steven Kochones / USA / 37 min.
Through conversations with photographers and musicians,Who Shot Rock & Roll explores the stories behind the most enduring photos in rock history.
Short Fiction - Woody
Stuart Bowen / Australia / 10 min
Woody has always wanted to play the piano, but he has wooden paddles for hands. This, however, is no barrier to his daydreams of stardom.
Music Video by Jon Langford - "Drone Operator" Hassan Amejal / USA / 6 min
Drone Operator celebrates our new low-risk stay-at home warrior class who rain down armageddon across the planet while never leaving the comfort of their office.
North American Premiere Short DocumentaryHidden Wounds Tomas Kaan / Netherlands, UK, Belgium, USA / 7 min
Pioneering Belgian rockers dEUS explore the horrors of post-traumatic stress disorder through the personal stories of twenty veterans of wars around the world.
Chicago Premiere of Short Fiction Heaven’s Vanguard
Emil Goodman / Hungary / 11 min.
Eight years after a tragedy drove him into retirement, the last great jazz star on a manmade planet plays a farewell performance that forces him to relive it.